PUNE: After the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) issued a notification in February for all swimming pools in the city to discontinue use of fresh water this summer, swimming pools in the city now are relying on borewells and tankers. The Sports Department has started conducting inspection of PMC pools regarding safety measures and fresh water usage.
Kondhwa-based Veer Savarkar Swimming Pool’s Management Team Member Nishikant Mandlik said, “We are using recycled and borewell water for the swimming pool as there is no supply of water from the PMC since February. Due to this, our pool was closed for 15 to 20 days but since a lots of swimming competitions are going on, we have to open it. We got our borewell done two years back so we are able to manage the pool smoothly. We use recycled water and make sure that water is not wasted.”
He added, “We have six lifeguards and there are five to six coaches. We have 13 to 14 batches a day which are classified into members, general public, ladies and competition coaching. We have a special batch for senior citizens as they come for swimming and water walking in the morning. The capacity of the pool is of 70 people but we do not take more than 30 to 40 people at one time.”
“We mostly use borewell and recycled water for the pool. We also have rainwater harvesting. However, during summer a major portion of water gets evaporated, thus we sometimes need tankers. During summer, we require one tanker a week for the pool,” said Kedari Jaltaran Talav Facility Manager George Gholap.
The PMC pool, which is operated by Rashtriya Live Saving Society (RLSS), not only gives swimming lessons but also teaches how to save a life and be aware of the danger. Swimming & Lifesaving Training Centres for RLSS Vice-President and Director Kavita Sharma said, “We have four lifeguards and four coaches. Although the capacity of the pool is 60, we make sure there are not more than 10 people per coach. Our lifeguards and coaches undergo training from RLSS. Apart from basic swimming training we have courses like swim and survive, advanced training and life-saving lifeguard”
Shivaji Rao Bhosale Aquatic & Health Club’s swimming pool Manager Atul Wagh said, “We are using borewell water which gets constantly filtered and recycled. In case of emergency such as power cut we use tankers. We have 16 batches and we do not take more than 30 people in one batch. There are four lifeguards and four coaches for the batches.”
PMC Sports Officer Subhash Puri said, “There are 31 swimming pools of PMC and out of which one at Sahakar Nagar is not functional due to lack of water but we are trying to start that in coming days. We instructed swimming pool managers in February to not use fresh water and we have started conducting inspection regarding the same. We are also conducting inspection regarding safety measures like lifeguards and hygiene of the pools.”